A Life Never Lived
by LittleBitLonger.CantHaveYou
Summary: Its been 4 months of bliss until Cobb comes knocking with one last job. She doesnt want what happened to Cobb and Mal to happen to them so she declines letting him go instead. Only she didnt realize it might cost him his life. Arthur/Ariadne
1. Chapter 1

Eames placed his poker chip on the table and looked over at Cobb with a smile.

"You know, I knew you would never be able to stay away but I was hoping that you would at least try." he said slowly.

"well with this job I will finally have enough money to send my kids to whatever college they want and I really just need another extraction job to get me off inception." he replied slowly with a sigh.

"I understand mate. So have you called Arthur and Ariadne yet? What about Yusuf?"

"Yusuf is on board I still haven't called Ariadne yet. I haven't been able to get a hold of Arthur. But he does no how to make himself disappear." Cobb explained.

"Yes that stick in the mud really does know what he is doing when it comes to this job. You never heard me say that though." Eames said with a smile. "When do we start?"

"meet me at the old warehouse in Paris in one week hopefully I will have tracked everyone down by then."

Ariadne turned into the muscular arms that were wrapped around her waist. She smiled as she remembered the past 3 months. He had come back for her after the job. They took off from there and were enjoying every second of it. She felt Arthurs head dig a little farther into the crook of her neck. She smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him.

"Why do you insist on waking up so early?" He asked with a defeated sigh.

"Because I'm still used to getting up for school but now that it's over I just need to get out of that routine. This whole not dreaming thing doesn't help much though." she explained. He pushed himself up on his elbows so he was hovering above her.

"I gave you one of the best times of your life last night and your still up at the crack of dawn. This isn't a routine problem you HAVE a problem." he said with a chuckle and kissed her.

"Well then maybe we should recreate it so I know just how tired I'm supposed to be." she said with a sly smile as she brought his lips to hers for a passionate kiss. They were so into it they barely heard a knock at the door. Ariadne rolled over and threw on his shirt and a pair of shorts as she went to open the door. She looked through the peep hole to see the one person she was hoping she wouldn't see. She turned back to see Arthur moving around collecting his clothes off the floor. Normally she wouldn't have been able to resist those abs but at this moment in time she needed to hide him.

"You need to hide now! It's Cobb!" she whispered on a hurried tone. His eyes went wide.

"shit where?" she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the closet in her room.

"Don't move till I come back for you." he nodded and she went back to the door and opened it. "Hello Cobb"

"Ariadne"

"Come in!" she ushered him in and they sat down in her kitchen. "So what are you doing here?"

"Well I have a new job lined up and well it's my last and I was hoping you would be my architect." he said simply. "It's a rather simple extraction job but the pay is better then anything I've ever gotten including inception."

"Umm can I think about it? I mean I know I want to do it, I really do I just need to talk to someone first." she said slowly.

"Well okay then we will be meeting in about 4 days at the warehouse. Eames and Yusuf are in now I just have to find Arthur. He seems to have disappeared for good this time. It would be a pity if I couldn't find him for my last job. Be really is my best mate." he said with a sad smile. Ariadne couldn't help but feel bad.

"Well last I heard he was in Paris. He was on my plane back here. I didn't see if he got on another or not after we landed. I hope that helps some. He really is the best at what he does." she tried to hide the smile on her face.

"Well that is a start. Anyways I have to go back to my kids before I look for Arthur. But I will be in touch. Remember four days!" he said and gave her a small hug and left. She waited till she was sure he was gone and ran to her closet pulling Arthur out to see him looking at her with his classic smirk.

"I really am the best at what I do aren't I? I mean that the impression I got last night with all your screaming and moaning." she was tempted to smack the smirk off his face but it was to sexy at this point. "Now I do believe we have some recreating to do."

"Yes indeed we do."

After there recreating had finally ceased Arthur was sitting against Ariadnes head board with her I his lap.

"So who is this person you needed to talk to?" he asked quietly resting his head on her shoulder blade.

"you." she whispered. She sat for a moment and he patiently waited for her to continue. "Do you think it's a good idea if we both go on the job? I mean we both know what happened to Cobb and Mal and I just... I don't want that to happen to us. I can't lose you."

He sighed and just held her. He knew she was holding back tears and needed to calm down. He slowly started talking.

"Look nothing is going to happen to us I promise. I won't let it. But if you are truly worried then I will stay gone and I won't let Cobb find me. You can go on the job and I will wait here for you."

"But he is your best friend. I really want this job but I don't want to risk losing this. I think you should go. Cobb can find another architect. In fact I'm sure you could do it. But I swear Arthur if anything happens to you I will kill you bring you back and kill you again. I can't loose you!" she finished and finally let the tears fall.

"Like you said I'm the best at what I do. I won't let you down just promise that everynight that I'm With them and not here you're not up worrying." he said into her back a tear making it's way down his cheek as he realized something. "I love you Ari."

"I love you too"

With that they rolled over and slept not knowing how dangerous this job was actually going to be.

Arthur waited till the day Cobb said to meet at the warehouse. He had his whole story sorted out for where he was and was ready to get the job over with so he could let Cobb get back to his normal life and he could get back to Ariadne. He walked up to the door and slowly opened it. He watched as all 3 men continued to talk not noticing him leaning against the wall. Yusuf finally looked up and smiled Eames and Cobb turned to see what he was looking at and they both gave small smiles as well.

"Well it's wonderful of you to finally grace us with your presence darling." said Eames as the two shook hands.

"I looked for you. How did you know where we would be?" Cobb asked looking a little suspicious.

"I heard through some people that someone was looking for me so I kept out of sight till I knew who it was. When I found out it was you and you wanted help for your last job I got here as soon as I could. Plus I heard the pay was great so I couldn't resist." he explained with a small chuckle.

"Glad to see Eames is rubbing off on you." Cobb joked. They shook hands and they began to fill him in on the job.

"So it's a simple extraction job. The mark is Xander Williamson. He is an under ground drug dealer. I got a call from a man saying that he wanted us to extract the formula for a new drug the man has supposedly created." Cobb began he took a breath and continued. "The only problem is we have to go two levels in to get the formula. Eames will stay on the first and then you and I will grab the formula from the second and Yusuf with watch our bodies in reality."

"What about an architect? I take it Ariadne isn't helping this time around." Arthur asked. He tried to hide his smile when he said her name.

"Not this time. She gave me a call the day after I went to see her. She said it just wasn't for her anymore. She liked reality to much to have to go through another month of questioning it after the job was over." Cobb explained. Arthur remembered that she carried her totem around everywhere tipping it over every five minutes.

"So who is going to be our architect?" Arthur asked slowly.

"Eames is going to build the first level and you are going to build the second. Since you are the two dreamers." Cobb explained Arthur nodded. After Arthur was briefed on the case Cobb gave him Xanders file and a note pad and he went to work. By the time Arthur looked up again it was already 1130 at night. He saw that Eames and Yusuf had already left and that Cobb was as usual hooked up to the machine. He looked back at his worked and packed it up and left. He took short cuts to Ariadne's apartment and when he got there he took out his key to unlock the door but she opened it before he could even find the right key.

"you waited up all this time?" he asked she nodded and grabbed his hand pulling him in. He threw his stuff down on the table and sat down and yawned.

"so what's the job like?" she asked he shook his head In Attempt to wake himself up.

"Extraction of some drug formula. I need your help though. I have to create the second level but I have no idea what to do." he explained leaning his head back over the chair. "And to top it all off this was supposed to be easy right hut apparently people have gone into his head before and it's not exactly a nice place."

"What do you mean? He was trained or something?" she asked with worried eyes.

"No he has a lot of demons is what they said. It's supposed to be worse then people who have been trained." he put his head in his hands and yawned.

"You promised me." he looked up at her and frowned.

"I haven't broken it yet so don't worry. "He replied cautiously. She nodded and stood up grabbing his hands.

"let's go to bed you look exhausted."

Arthur fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. Ariadne stayed awake and watched him sleep. She couldn't help but wonder if this was actually safe. She drifted off to sleep but woke up early again. Like always he woke up a few minutes after her.

"What's bothering you?" he whispered. She turned over to face him and propped herself up on her elbow.

"Who am I supposed to call if something happens to you? I know nothing about you or your past or who you are for that matter. Don't get me wrong I love you but it would be nice to know who you are. I've told you everything about me. You know me inside and out, but I don't know you." She explained. She watched as he rolled over onto his back and sighed. She had never seen him like this, he looked as if he was fighting a war inside himself on whether to tell her the truth or make up some bull shit story.

"I was hoping you would never notice. That I would never have to burden you with my past, it's not a pretty thing. Trust me if it was something I even thought about once I would tell you. I keep my past locked away because it's dangerous and depressing." He said staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I deserve to know. I don't like being the only person left in the dark." She whispered in a soft voice. His arm snaked around her waist and he pulled her closer.

"No one knows Ari. You're not being left in the dark."

"You mean even Cobb and Eames don't really know you?" she said in shock.

"No." he whispered. He turned to face her and frowned. "They think I grew up with a normal white picket fence family and went to Harvard. When really that's the life Arthur Williams had."

"Let me guess they don't even know your real name?"

"You can ask me anything at the end. I promise." She nodded and let him go on.

"My real name is Arthur Reece. I grew up in the foster care system. I never had a family no one ever wanted to adopt me because they thought I was a dysfunctional kid and I would cause a lot of trouble. Which in the end I did, I was doing drugs by the time I was 15 I had been arrested about 6 times before I was 18 and nobody wanted anything to do with me. When I was 18 I took off, the foster house I was staying at searched high and low for me because I stole about two grand from them. About six months after I took off they got a lead on where I was, except that instead of finding me they found a dead kid who looked like me. I had seen him in an ally on night. He was already dead, he was beaten beyond belief I had never seen someone so… mutilated. I took my wallet and some of the money I had stolen and stuffed it in his pockets. I never thought it would work. Two days later I was pronounced dead. The only problem was, I was 18 and I had 1 grand in cash in my pocket and no life. I was freaked out, I didn't know what to do, and I was supposed to be dead. After about two weeks of hiding out in ally ways I went and got my name changed." He let out a sigh and turned over and reached to grab something out of his bed side table. When he rolled back over Ariadne discovered he was holding dog tags.

"You were in the army?" She asked slowly. He sat up slowly and she followed suit. He pulled her into his lap and he placed the dog tags around her neck. He leaned back onto the head board and she leaned back into his chest while fiddling with his dog tags. She noticed that his real name was printed on them.

"I joined when I was 18. I was in the army for about two years then they transferred me to black ops. They said I was an army recruit for the CIA and that I was on a need to know basis. Two years into it we were sent to Israel to grab some guy who was threatening to put secret codes or something along those lines out in the public. Like I said it was a need to know basis. We were supposed to grab him from a small warehouse. As we entered the building it blew up along with our suspect and about half of my team. The mission failed; when we got back to the US we were all honorably discharged. They said we knew too much, which was a lie. They gave us cover stories saying incase anyone had seen us and decided to come after us. Which brings me to why my real name is on those dog tags, when it was my turn to get my cover story me they told me they knew about everything I had done, faking my own death, stealing money, and all the arrests and drugs. I was told that I was brought into black ops for that reason. They wanted someone who could do the job and still be unknown. I was supposed to be a ghost and I was. After I was discharged I ran into Cobb and that's when this all started for me." He leaned his head back against the head board. Ariadne turned in his lap to face him. She took hold of his face and brought it down level to hers.

"I love you and you being someone completely different then a white picket fence Harvard boy isn't going to change that." She said looking into his big brown eyes. She rested her forehead on his. They both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in. "How did you keep Cobb and Eames in the dark? How did they not figure out who you were?"

"Because it's my job. I'm the point man I do the research I dig up anything and everything on the mark. I know how and where to look for hidden things. This means I also know how to hide everything. Arthur Reece is supposed to be dead so I made sure he stayed that way." He said closing his eyes. She watched as a tear rolled down his face. The one thing she never expected Arthur to do was cry, whether it was one tear or all out balling she never expected it. "You're the only person I've ever told. And the only person I will ever tell."

"Cobb is your best friend like it or not so is Eames don't you think they have a right to know?" Ariadne said leaning farther into him.

"Not really."

"Okay."

And then it was over. She knew he had his reasons for not telling them and she respected that. His life was laid out on a need to know basis and she was the only person so break that. She knew he truly loved her, if he didn't he wouldn't have told her. She pulled him down onto the bed and straddled him.

"What about other girlfriends? Any crazy psychos I need to watch out for?"

"More like one night stands."

"You and Eames are more alike then I thought."

"You have no idea." With that he turned them over and gave her a fierce kiss and slid off the bed to get ready leaving her to her thoughts.


	2. Chapter 2

Ariadne had promised him that she wouldn't worry and she was keeping it. As much as she wanted to she kept her cool. He was gone for two days before she finally heard from him again. He called her saying he would be back in a day and would fill her in on when they were going under. Only problem is he didn't come back.

"He is going to come back. He promised me. Damn him. I swear to god if he doesn't come back I'm going to kill him." She talked to herself as she paced back and forth in there apartment gripping the dog tags hanging from her neck. Then it hit her, the perfect plan. "I will just pop by to say hello act like I missed everyone and just wanted to say hello. Well that's not lying really."

It wasn't she missed Cobb and Eames like no other. She even missed Yusuf more then she expected to. Only problem was she missed Arthur and wasn't sure what would happen if he saw her at the warehouse. She knew that he wouldn't lie to her so something must be keeping him. She couldn't convince herself to go over there and look because she knew it would tick him off. He hated worrying her and she hated worrying him. She knew he would understand though.

"One more day… That's it then I have to go look." She told herself and climbed into bed. It was weird not having his body wrapped in hers. She didn't like the empty feeling, she felt unprotected. When she was with Arthur it was like nothing could touch her but when he was gone she was at her most vulnerable. She really despised this feeling. She finally drifted off, she actually slept a good deal waking up at a reasonable hour. She threw her hand over to the other side of the bed only to feel sheets. She turned over and stared at Arthur's side of the bed, finally after hours of just laying there waiting for him to walk through the door she got up.

"I can't do it I can't wait any longer." She picked up her phone and began to dial his number but then remembered that Cobb or Eames could be snooping and see it was her calling. She slammed her phone shut and threw it across the room. She grabbed the dog tags and held on for dear life. They were the only thing keeping her sane at the moment. She went into his drawers and grabbed his favorite shirt, vintage long sleeved Smiths band shirt. It was his secret pleasure something she figured out while they were working together on inception. She put it on. The sleeves covered her hand and it hung almost to her knees. She took in his scent and a tear rolled down her face, she quickly wiped it away and threw on a pair of skinny jeans and her favorite pair of converse. She went to grab for one of her scarves when she remembered his tags around her neck. She looked down at them and decided to ditch the scarf this one time. She picked up her bag and walked out. It was only about a 20 minute walk to the warehouse. She slowly walked up the steps to the door taking them one at a time. When she got to the door she couldn't bring herself to open it. She let the tags fall under her shirt so they wouldn't see them and she opened the door. The sight before her was one she had only seen once before. Cobb standing in front of Eames yelling at him, the only other time she had seen Cobb lose his cool like that was when he and Arthur fought in the first level of the Fischer job. They all turned to face her when they heard the door close.

"Ariadne? What are you doing here?" Cobb asked with a quizzical expression.

"Honestly… I really missed you guys. I knew it was Cobb's last job and I didn't want the last time I heard from him or any of you to be me rejecting his offer of the phone." She said sheepishly. There faces dropped all with sad expressions she took notice and looked around the room. Arthur wasn't there.

"Umm this is a bad time darling and well Arthur's not here at the moment and I know that stick in the mud wishes he could see you again even though he would never admit it." Eames said when he said Arthurs name she noticed Yusuf cringe and Cobb closed his eyes and looked down.

"Well what's the problem maybe I can help?" She pressed. She was going to find out where Arthur was whether she ousted them as a couple or not. Eames and Yusuf looked to Cobb as if to say she probably can. He only nodded and turned to me. I absentmindedly reached for the tags around my neck.

"Come sit down and we will explain. You might actually be able to help." Cobb led her over to there old circle of chairs. She sat down cross legged in one while the all took seats as well. "Our mark is a drug dealer and so is the person who hired us."

She already knew everything but she listened anyways while playing with the end of the sleeves. Cobb took a deep breath before he continued.

"Anyways we were supposed to grab our mark and go under a week from now, only problem was our employer didn't like that we were taking so long. He wanted us to move faster when we told him it wasn't possible he took something for leverage." Cobb paused. She new what was coming, she new what he took and why but she couldn't believe it till it left his mouth. "He took Arthur. We got a call about an hour ago… They said that if we don't get it done in the next 3 days they're going kill him. Until then they've been beating him senseless."

She was holding her knees to her chest and staring at the ground. This couldn't be happening to her. She refused to believe it. "He promised me" she whispered to herself. She hadn't realized anyone had heard until Eames spoke up.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. I will try my best to help you. What do we –"she was cut off by Eames standing up and glaring at her.

"What did you say Ariadne…" She held her breath and shook her head. She couldn't let it slip they wouldn't let her help and she needed to help. She couldn't go back to sitting in her apartment waiting she couldn't keep waiting. Eames grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. His eyes were soft pleading as if to say its okay, she stared for a minute longer and then she lost it. She shook herself out of his arms and paced back and forth tears spilling out as she mumbled.

"He promised me…he said nothing bad was going to happen… he fucking promised me god damn it!" She fell to the ground sobbing she couldn't believe she could lose the most important thing in her life because of a damn job. "It's all your fault! You shouldn't have even taken the damn job without having him look into to this guy first. You're risking his life for a damn pay check! He's you're best friend and this is how you repay him? What happens when he doesn't make it and I have to go home and sleep in an empty bed for the rest of my life? When I have no one left because you took the most important thing from me?"

When she finished it dawned on her what she actually said. She felt her face go red behind all the tears and then she did the only thing she could do, run. She took off back towards her apartment. When she got there she sat on the floor next to her bed. She stared out of the sliding glass doors that led to there balcony. She didn't know how long she was staring but she was quickly shaken out of it when she reached to grab the dog tags around her neck and they weren't there. She quickly shot up only to run into someone. She looked up and saw Eames face. He opened her hand and laid the dog tags in her palm.

"I thought you might want that back." He said softly and then they sat leaning against her bed again staring out at Paris. It took a while for Eames to muster up the courage to say anything but when he did he made sure she was calm enough to explain.

"How long?"

"Going on 6 months, he came looking for me two weeks after the job." He watched her fiddle with the necklace as she spoke.

"Does he know you where someone else's dog tags?" He said shyly, like he was afraid of the answer he might get.

"There his." She said softly.

"They can't be his last name is Williams not Reece and he wasn't in the army." Eames whispered more to himself then to Ariadne.

"No there his."

"But he-"

"It's not my story to tell Eames." She said cutting him off. He stared at her for a moment and when he realized he wasn't going to get more then that he dropped the subject.

"I'm guessing by the looks of this place your living together and I can assume then that you're screwing each other which in your case I must say means you're utterly in love with him." He watched her crack a small smile and it made him relax a bit. She nodded and turned to face him.

"I can't loose him Eames…" She said while wrapping her arms around Eames neck and burying her head in his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist and began to speak.

"We are going to bring him back alive. I mean I can't lose that stick in the mud. Whether he is boring or not he has always had my back and saved my life more times then I can count. And I owe it to him to save his ass at least once." When he finished he stood them up and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Come on we have some work to do."

The slowly walked back to the warehouse taking in all the sights of Paris that they were sure they wouldn't be able to appreciate for a while to come. Once they got to the warehouse Eames immediately went to talk to Yusuf leaving Ariadne with a silent Cobb.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm sorry for what I said. It was all wrong. At the time I meant it but right now as I look back it was all wrong. I'm so sorry Cobb it's not your fault at all. I'm sorry I blamed you." She said sitting down next to him. He turned to her and put an arm around her and smiled.

"I know you didn't mean it. It's okay sweetheart. If I was in your position I would probably say the same thing to myself. In fact I have, but right now all that matters is getting Arthur back and trust me we will." He explained. They shared a smile and walked over to Yusuf and Eames to begin planning. They looked at the layouts of the two levels and Eames began to explain.

"Okay Ari, you're going to have to familiarize yourself with Arthur's level since you are going to take over his part." He explained.

"I already know it." They all gave her strange looks. "I helped him create it. I know it inside and out."

"Well then I assume you know all about the case?" Yusuf asked

"Yes I know all of it. The only problem is…I don't know how to shoot. Arthur never taught me. And this guys mind is supposed to be filled with who knows what right? I don't want to die in the dream leaving Cobb all by himself." She said nervously. Eames smiled and nodded to Cobb.

"You won't have to learn. All you have to do is create Arthur make up a projection. It won't really be Arthur but it will be close enough. The only thing is… you can't get close to it okay? It's not really going to be Arthur its going to be more of a body guard that looks like him." Cobb explained and she nodded. They continued to talk for another half an hour. They agreed that they would snatch Xander on his train to Sancerre Cobb bought tickets for the same cart that way no one would bother them.

"Okay so we have the tickets all we have to do is get the formula and be done with it." Ariadne said more to herself then anyone in particular. Cobb's phone rang and he stepped out of the room. He came back not a minute later with the phone on speaker and set it on the table.

"What do you want we are going to grab him in less then 48 hours you have nothing to worry about." Cobb said loudly into the phone. They all heard a nasty laugh on the other end.

"Well it turns out he also has a secret stash of cocaine. I want you to find out where or I will do more harm to your little friend." They all looked around at each other.

"Then give us more time. We would need about 2 more hours in order to do that." Cobb replied only to be greeted by a scream of pain none of them knew was possible. Ariadne put a hand over her mouth as she tried to compose herself.

"Does it sound like your friend has two EXTRA hours? No it doesn't you will stick to the plan I gave you or your Arthur here wont be showing up with a pulse." They heard a loud crack like a whip and another scream.

"Fine it's a deal but let me talk to him please that's all I'm asking." Cobb begged. They heard some shuffling and then a weak voice.

"Cobb?" The minute Ariadne heard his voice or lack there of she slapped her other hand over her mouth and placed her head on the table and sobbed.

"Arthur! Are you okay?" Eames gave Cobb a look as if to say 'are you serious'.

"Just dandy." He replied with a small chuckle. Cobb handed the phone to Ariadne.

"Arthur…" She said softly.

"Ari…are you safe?" he said with a cough at the end. She bit back tears as she answered.

"Yes. Were going to find you okay? I promise!" She said but the line went dead before she could finish. She looked around at the guys; Cobb was staring at the table like it was the best thing since sliced bread. Eames had his head in his hands and dare she say it might have even been crying. Yusuf was looking at her. He stared at her as she set the phone down on the table. He gave her a small smile and she returned it. That smile gave her the hope she needed to get through the next 48 hours.

Arthur watched as the man closed the phone before Ariadne could finish. He couldn't believe she was there. Her voice made him feel like he was on top of the world not held up in some building beaten to a pulp. He looked around as three of the four men left the room. The other one was tall with jet black hair he stayed. He held the long leather rope they had been using on him. Arthur could barely feel his arms anymore; he had been cuffed to a railing with his hands hanging above his head for over two days now. They only let him down when they were done beating him. This wasn't as often as he'd hoped.

"Who was she?" The unknown man asked.

"Does it matter?" Arthur replied. The man looked up at him and shrugged his shoulders while leaning back against the wall. "Why aren't you hitting me?"

"Because I'm being nice and giving you a break. You've been more tolerant than any one before you." The tall man replied with a small smile.

"Well let's just say this isn't the first time I've been in this situation. On the giving or receiving end unfortunately." Arthur said looking up at his hands. He grabbed the rope and squeezed this offered him more feeling back in his arms.

"Why am I not hearing screaming? Did I tell you it was time for a break?" The voice came from a different part of the building. The man looked up at Arthur and frowned.

"I'm sorry man." He said softly and Arthur just nodded waiting for the pain to come. And it did again and again till the man was told to give him a break. Arthur was let down off the railing his hands still tied. He slumped down onto a wall near by. He looked up searching for the man who beat him. He had noticed earlier that he had a gun on him. When he finally caught his eye he nodded for him to come over.

"Can you at least knock me out for a while?" Arthur said to the man while nodding to his gun.

"Are you sure? Your gonna have on hell of a headache." He replied

"I just want a couple hours of not feeling anything." He said slowly. The man nodded and grabbed the gun from his belt. Arthur thought he saw a tear run down the mans face before everything turned black.

**Please review it would mean a lot to me! I will probably update tomorrow if I can! This story is just flooding out of me! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

They had it nailed. They knew when were and what they needed to do. They were also scared out of there minds that something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong whether it was a change in the whether or the mark had been trained something always went wrong. Eames thought about this as they boarded the train. Cobb had bribed one of the workers to make sure no one entered that cart. Eames was still freaked he couldn't look at Ariadne without wanting to shoot himself. She looked helpless, like she had nothing left. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and they entered the cart. Xander was already in his seat when they took theirs. He looked up from his book to eye them only to return to it after a second. Cobb sat next to him while Yusuf sat behind and Eames and Ariadne sat in front. As soon as the train began to move Cobb smothered him with a towel. He put up a good fight but in the end whatever cleaning product Cobb used had won. They pulled out the silver case and hooked themselves up. Yusuf gave them a small sedative and reached for the button.

"Good luck" he said softly and then they were gone.

Eames found himself in an ally way covered in trash, he looked up to see Cobb pop his head around the corner and give him a nod. Eames got up and followed him. They were walking down the streets of what England. Eames couldn't resist basing his level off his old home. He could never go back because of the sum people would pay to have a bullet put in his head. Sure he had stolen a few grand off some people but he never assumed they would take it so seriously. They turned into a small building where Ariadne was seated on a couch waiting. She got up and followed them into a room in the back. They had decided to grab the formula in the first level and hit the stash spot in the second. They saw Xander jump up from what looked like his bed when they burst in.

"What the hell?" he shouted.

"Sit. Do not move or I will pull this trigger." Eames said holding his in front of the kids face. When Eames saw him he looked to be no older then Ariadne.

"We need the formula for the new drug you've created. We need it now." Cobb said in a serious tone.

"What no! I can't give it to you! I don't care who wants it! The formula was a bust it doesn't work. The drug was supposed to be the pill form or weed only it killed people immediately. I took it off the market who ever sent you should no that and stop asking for it." He explained in a rush. Ariadne looked around She hadn't noticed before but there were guys circling the house but without guns. When she looked closer she saw each one of them was bleeding, from there head. She turned to Cobb with a frightened look on her face.

"What?"

"Its ghosts. It's filled with them; they all have the same wound a shot to the temple. It must be all the people he has killed they are haunting him." She stammered. Eames' eyes widened.

"That's not possible. This is closer to reality then a dream and you don't see ghosts in reality." He said quickly. He had only ever heard of ghosts coming forward in a dream once before. The guy who told the story soon went insane so no one believed him.

"Yes it is. Think about it. People dream fiction and non- fiction when there not hooked up, who's to say they can't do when they are." Ariadne pressed. Xander began to move for an exit but Cobb threw his gun up to face his head.

"But were in my dream." Eames protested.

"But were in his subconscious." Cobb said softly. "He must have pressed his guilt for the deaths so far back that it rested there. This explains what Arthur said about it being like he had demons running around. It's his guilt that's causing his subconscious to act this way."

"But if were in his subconscious why aren't we being eaten alive by all his projections?" Ariadne asked looking straight at Xander.

"Because he doesn't want to kill us… because you want us to take the information were hear for…because you know that once the people who paid us find out its bad they won't sell it and no deaths with be on your hands." Cobb said more to himself then he did to Xander.

"Look please I will give you what you want just don't let them sell it immediately, tell whoever it is that sent you that they should check it. No one else has to die from a stupid mistake." He begged. He was almost on his knees trying to get Eames and Cobb to lay off.

"Here's the deal tell us where you hide you cocaine and we won't give the formula to our boss. We will say that it was all just a rumor. Deal?" Cobb said moving his gun closer for emphasis.

"Deal! Deal!"

Arthur woke up with a bigger headache then he had ever had. He felt the blood dripping down his forehead. He closed his eyes and rested his head back on the wall. He flinched in pain remembering all the lashes he had on his back from the whip. About three had actually broken the skin. He leaned forward and looked at his surroundings. All the men were gone the place had been cleared out. He saw a piece of paper on the ground in front of him. He went to pick it up then realizing his restraints had been removed.

_I hope you realize how good of friends you have. I just hope they realize where you are before everything goes boom. Don't bother looking for a way out. It will only trigger the bomb quicker. The bomb is set to go off at midnight. Good luck getting out Arthur dear it was a pleasure torturing you._

_-Anonymous_

Arthur looked around the building he was in. It was made out of brick which meant they couldn't have wired the bomb through the walls. He then looked up at the windows they were all connected by wires which lead to the only door in the building which of course had the bomb strapped to it. Sunlight was still shining through the room but only barely. He was in Pairs which meant it was probably around 8 so head figured he had about 4 hours till this place went up. There was no possible way that anyone could get in either which meant if he didn't figure out a way to get himself out in time he was going to be just another body in a body bag. Only this time it wasn't fake.

Ariadne woke from her seat and pulled the needle out of her arm. Eames and Cobb were already awake. They left Xander hooked up so he wouldn't realize anything was going on when he woke up. Cobb immediately stood and left the cart cell phone in hand. The train was almost to its final stop when he came back. He sat down in next to me and Eames and shook his head.

"They said we can pick up Arthur in some building just outside of downtown Paris. This train's last stop is in down town Paris. We need to get off as fast as possible it didn't sound like he was doing to well." As if on cue the train came to a stop. Yusuf unhooked Xander and they hoped off without leaving a trace. It was already nearing 11:30 when they finally found (well stole) a car. Eames drove as fast as he could out of town, when they arrived the saw a small red brick building. It was in the middle of no where, but once again they weren't about to hold the most skilled point man in a city building where he could easily get help or find an exit. Ariadne jumped out of the car and began running to the building only to be thrown back as it exploded. The three other men rushed over to her only to fall to the ground with her as she screamed out for Arthur. As Eames had predicted something always goes wrong only he didn't think it would end up being the death of his best mate.

**PLEASE REVIEW IM BEGGING YOU!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Arthur! Arthur! Damn it Arthur answer me!" Ariadne shouted as she struggled to get out of Cobb's grasp. Finally he relaxed and she ran over to what was left of the building. Eames grabbed her before she could get all the way there. "No let me go! I have to find him! Let me go!"

"Darlin we have to go. Now." he said and picked her up bridal style. She continued to pound on his chest all the way back to the car. Cobb got in the passenger seat and Eames held Ariadne in the back while Yusuf drove. Ariadne stopped trying to get away and just laid in Eames' arms all the way back to the warehouse. Everyone was silent. Yusuf could barely focus on the road. He was exhausted from lack of sleep and he was down right sad he couldn't believe Arthur was dead. Out of all of them he honestly expected Arthur to live through anything. If anyone was gonna die he thought it would be himself or even Cobb but never Arthur.

Cobb looked out the window at all the people walking happily through the streets of Paris. He felt the tears come down. Arthur was his best friend there for him through thick and thin. No matter how many times Cobb risked his life he always came back. Arthur was not the one who was supposed to die. To him Arthur was like superman he could anything. And well superman didn't die.

Ariadne hurried her head into Eames chest. She was exhausted all she wanted to do was sleep and wake up next to Arthur having had it all be a dream. Only she new the wasn't possible because of her totem. She had flicked it over at least 30 times before she realized everything was real. The dog tags were making her chest heavy all she wanted was Arthur but that wasn't possible. The more she tried to tell herself it wasn't true that he was still out there, the more she realized how true it was.

Eames sat back holding Ariadne. He knew that this day would come, when one of them died. He just didn't expect it to be when they were still a team. He expected to grow old with them go have beers at the pub when there in there late forties and wanna watch the game. He knew everyone else was think that ' they never expected it to be him' but honestly Eames did. Whether it was old age or the job in the back of his mind he new Arthur was going to be the first. He was just that guy the one who was serious,kind,sweet,annoying and well an all around amazing guy. But Eames never expected it to feel like this. He never expected to cry as much as he was to be in as much pain as he was and want to kill as much as he did. He never realized how good a friend Arthur was until now and he knew he took it for granted.

They finally reached the warehouse. Once inside they just sat staring at different things not knowing what to do until Cobb spoke up.

" I need to call his parents and sister."

" don't bother." Ariadne said softly.

" what?"

" he doesn't have any. Everything he told you was a lie. He grew up in foster care his real name is Arthur Reece he faked his death when he was 18. Therefore he no longer exist so you have no one to call." she deadpanned. They all stared at her in shock.

" your lying." Cobb yelled and began to shake her. Eames had to pry him off of her. " your lying..."

" no its the truth. He never told you because it wasn't a life he liked. He hated it there's more to it but I can't... I just can't. Arthur Williams doesn't exist just a life never lived." she explained while staring at the floor.

Cobb stood up and walked over to her and hugged her. It took a few minutes before she moved but they stayed that way for what seemed like hours. Finally when Ariadne stood up he saw her face. She looked dead to be honest. Tear stained face tired eyes and she was as pale as ever.

" I'm going to go. I really need to be alone right now." she said and walked out the door. Cobb turned to Eames and they both just stared at each other. Yusuf just sat there with his head in his hands. They didn't know what to do.

Ariadne walked into her apartment and dropped her things and ran to her bed. She sat cross legged in the middle and stared at the door willing it to open and for Arthur to come through it. She grabbed her totem and stared at it. She couldn't test reality because it was to realistic. She chucked it at the wall and screamed.

"stupid piece of shit!"

She rolled over onto the bed and laid there. She stared at the ceiling for so long she began to see Arthurs face. When she finally looked away it was to the clock on her bedside table. It was 3am it had been 3 hours since Arthur was blown to bits. She couldn't really handle the image that came with that saying so she began to think about all the good times the had together. She was think about the day Arthur came back for her. She smiled at it. He came to her door and the minute she opened it he kissed her. The minute it broke he told her that those two weeks away from her were the hardest days of his life. Then she kissed him and told him how much she missed him. It was like a fairytale only the ending sucked. She was shaken out of her thoughts when her front door creeped open. She grabbed the gun Arthur had hidden in the bedside table and walked out. She looked at the person in front of her.

" I love you." were the first words out of his mouth. " I love you so damn much."

" Arthur." she took in his sight. He was covered in blood and dust. She walked over to him and he collapsed in her arms. They fell to the floor crying. " I love you too. Don't ever ever leave me again. Even to go to the damn grocery store."

They both giggled lightly she brought his face to hers and she just stared. He was a mess. Tears blood dust covered his face. She kissed him with everything she had. He pulled when she ran her hands down his back. He let out a groan in pain.

"Sorry! Come on let's get you cleaned up." she helped him up but soon was basically carrying him. He could barely move. They got to the bathroom and she set him down on the edge of the bathtub. "I know it's gonna hurt but we gotta get this shirt off."

She began to undo the buttons as he groans in more pain. Once off she took in his sight. He was covered in bruises all around his ribs. His tattoo she had grown to love (yes he has a damn tattoo!) was covered by the bruises. She could barely see the script writing he had over his ribs.

" my backs worse." he said bluntly. She hoped in the tub and looked at his back. Covered with open cuts from what looked to be a whip. They weren't deep but she knew it hurt. She got out at grabbed a wash cloth.

"bit down while I check to make sure you don't have any broken ribs." she said handing it to him.

"you know how?" he said in a nervous voice. She nodded. He trusted her so he stuck the washcloth in his mouth and put his head in his hands. His screams were muffled by the cloth as she slowly felt around.

"nothing is broken. Don't you dare take that cloth out yet I have to clean you up. And well it's gonna sting." he slowly nodded as she grabbed another cloth water and disinfectant and hopped back into the tub to clean the cuts on his back. She was thankful they weren't deep and that they were the only ones aside from the gash on his head. She felt him tense as she cleaned the cuts. Which in turn made her tense for a few seconds. She cleaned slowly and soon he became relaxed. Once she was done she moved back to the front of his body. She wiped all the dust and grime of his chest before tackling his face. She removed the cloth from his mouth and he sighed in relief.

"I'm not done yet. You still have a huge cut on your head and I need to wrap you up. Your lucky I took EMT classes or else you would be in the hospital answering to cops" she explained. He looked at her with tired eyes and she frowned. He was exhausted and in pain and probably hungry as hell. "I will finish up then I will make you something to eat and we can sleep."

"Okay." his answer made he want to die. She had never seen Arthur so vulnerable. She hated it. She cleaned his face off and patched up his head then went to work on his back.

"I'm going to have to wrap you all the way around your gashes are to long and plus it will help hold your ribs in place." he nodded. He could barely keep his arms up as she wrapped him up. Finally when she was done she cried. She had been doing ally of that lately. He pulled her close to him, he held her till she stopped crying. When she pulled away she looked up at him and smiled. He cracked a small smirk and she grabbed his hands.

"come on let's eat something." they walked into the kitchen and she pulled out two spoons and a tub of chocolate ice cream.

" now that's what I call a feast." he said dryly. They devowered the tub within minutes. "I've never loved chocolate ice cream more then I do now"

"bed?" she asked softly and he nodded. They hadn't really spoken much so she didn't really know what to say. Once they reached the bed he laid down in as comfortable a position he could get. She sat up next to him. " I though you were dead. We got tithe building and I was on my way in to get you and it just exploded. I thought you were dead."

" I would never leave you like that. Plus the bomb was triggered so that no one could get in or without the building going up. "

"how did you get out?"

"I didn't. They only triggered on side of the building so I figured I could stay at one end and then as soon as that end began to fall I would make a run for the other end. Only problem was that I wasn't exactly fast enough so when it happened I got caught in the middle under some wood and bricks. But I had made it just far enough across that the majority of that side was on the ground. I heard you. Calling me. I tired to answer but I guess you didn't hear me." he explained

"I'm sorry. For all of this." she said softly. He grabbed her hand.

"it's not your fault. I could never blame you. I should be thanking you for getting all the info in time. Ari I love you so much. You gotta know that." he said with a worried tone.

" I love you too." she leaned over and gave him a kiss. It was soft and gentle but lasted quite a while. " go to sleep you need it. And don't worry I'm not going anywhere"

He nodded and rested his head on his pillow. He was out instantly. She grabbed her cell and dialed Cobb's number.

"Ariadne? What's wrong? Everything okay?" he said quickly with worry.

"he's alive."

**Sorry for any spelling errors! I did this on my ipod! Anyways…PLEASE REVIEW! **


	5. Chapter 5

"Calm down Cobb." Ariadne said in a threatening tone. Ever since she called him he had been freaking out over the phone. She had never heard him like. It showed her just how much Arthur meant to him. "Look he is sleeping right now. You can come over but we need to keep it quiet okay? Call Eames and Yusuf okay?"

"Yeah okay. We will be over as soon as possible." He said softly. They both hung up and Ariadne went back into their bedroom. Arthur was still sound asleep she didn't want to wake him but she knew it was necessary. She leaned over him and blew in his ear. His arm sneaked around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Yes?"

"Cobb and the boys are coming over. You don't have to get up don't worry. I just wanted you to know because they know about us and well…they kinda know you lied to them." She heard him sigh as she explained. She rested her head in his shoulder blade. "I'm sorry…I lost it when I found out you were taken. They found out about us then. After the explosion Cobb went to call your family and I had to tell him…I just told him you lied about yourself. I didn't tell the story. It's not my place."

"Okay. I don't blame you. I would have done the same in your position." He said softly.

"Go back to sleep. You need it." He let go of her waist and she kissed his head and he was back asleep within seconds. She walked out closing the door and taking a seat on her couch in the living room. Not two minutes after she sat down she heard a knock at her door. She opened it to find Cobb and Eames.

"Where is Yusuf?" she said quietly letting them in.

"He is back in Mombasa. He didn't want to stay after what happened. But we let him know Arthur was okay." Eames explained. She nodded and they all took a seat in her living room. "How is he?"

"Beat." She said softly. They waited for her to continue knowing she was composing herself. "His bruises are so bad you can't even see his tattoos. I have never seen someone look so…exhausted. I'm surprised he stayed awake as long as he did."

"Tattoos? The Army? What is this…I don't even know him…" Eames whispered to himself not realizing Cobb and Ariadne had heard him. "Sorry I know I should be thinking about his well being and all that but I just can't get over the fact that I don't know him… five years I've known him and everything was a lie. He must really love you if he told you everything in one sweep."

Ariadne smiled at his statement. She remembered that day clearer then any other before it. She knew he loved her but it made her happy knowing she could change someone like him in less then a year.

"Do you think he is going to be okay?" Ariadne asked. She wasn't talking to either men in particular she just wanted and answer.

"As long as I have known Arthur…This has happened to him four times. This being the fifth. The other difference is that this time we weren't being tortured along with him. He was in there all alone. So I honestly can't tell you if he is going to be okay." Cobb explained. Ariadne winced at the number Cobb dished out and Eames winced at the memories of the prior times. "When do you think he will wake up?"

"I woke him up before you came, to let him know so he wouldn't freak if he woke up and saw you all in our apartment. He woke up pretty easily. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he slept for days but then again I wouldn't be surprised if he woke up in 20 minutes." She explained. They both nodded and they all fell silent. There heads suddenly shot up when Arthur walked into the room. Only Ariadne had ever seen him in sweats before so even in his state it came as a surprise to Cobb and Eames to see him look so vulnerable. He had on black sweats and a grey zip up hoodie that was only zipped half way up so they could see the bandages and bruises that covered his chest.

"Hey guys." He said softly scratching the back of his neck nervously while waking a seat next to Ariadne.

"I should shoot you for making me worry about you." Eames said with a smirk causing Arthur to chuckle.

"Aww you actually felt something in that bottomless pit you call your heart? It's great to know." Arthur retorted. Everyone stifled a laugh and they fell back into silence for a while till Arthur spoke up. "I suppose you want to know everything?"

"Honestly it would be nice to know who my best friend really is. But were not here for that were here to make sure your okay." Cobb said in a matter of fact tone.

"I'm alive aren't I?" He replied sarcastically. Ariadne grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He looked over at he and they shared a smile. "Look I'm not fine that's obvious but I will be so really you don't have to worry."

"Well since that's settled lets get to it." Eames said

"What do you want to know?"

"Well first off tattoos really? Never in my life did I think you would be one to have any." Eames said. Cobb and Arthur gave him an incredulous look. Ariadne just giggled.

"Really that's what you want to know?" Arthur asked. Eames nodded enthusiastically. "Well I can't exactly show them to you at the moment. But I have four."

"Wow… Well I won't forget this. I will see these tattoos of yours. Now on to the good stuff I for one what to know everything you told Ariadne." Eames said with a tight smile at the end. Cobb nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Well my real name is Arthur Reece…"

After about an hour of explaining and Eames' constant questions Arthur finally finished his story. Eames and Cobb sat still for a few minutes taking it all in. Arthur took this time to wrap his arm around Ariadne's waist after painfully attempting to put it around her shoulders. She leaned into him trying not to hurt him. She felt him wince but when she tried to pull away he just held her in place.

"Do you know anything about your birth parents?" Cobb finally asked. The question surprised everyone. Ariadne had never even thought about his birth parents.

"All I really know is that my dad was American and my mom was Portuguese. I was born in Portugal but was thrown into the foster care system when I was 2. That's all I know." He stated calmly. They all nodded. Ariadne finally understood why Arthur spoke Portuguese and Spanish so fluently, because he didn't just grow up in the American foster care system. "I didn't actually live in America till I was about 7 that's when I switched systems."

His last statement confirmed it for her. Eames and Cobb nodded and stood

"Well it's getting late and you look down right exhausted darling so we shall be on our way." Eames said Ariadne pulled Arthur to his feet so he could shake hands with them men.

"We will be in touch if anything comes our way. We are also looking into running our employer out of town or into jail. Shall we call you if we find him?" Cobb asked. Arthur looked him dead in the eye when he replied.

"No." Ariadne looked up at him questioningly. "I just need some time off. I'm set for life I don't need another job. But I don't think I could give it up, just give me a while okay? Only if it's really important."

Cobb just nodded and followed Eames out the door. As soon as the door shut Ariadne crashed her lips against his.

"Why would you do that? I mean this job is your life?"

"I'm not quitting, it's just I need a break Ari. I've been doing this job non stop for so long that I'm just tired." He said earnestly. She smiled at him and he smiled back, a smile Ariadne knew only she would get. She hugged him and he winced she pulled back quickly.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She said frantically. He chuckled and kissed her forehead. She looked up into his eyes and frowned she could almost see the clouds rolling over them due to his exhaustion. "You woke up just for them didn't you?"

"Yes." He said sheepishly. She smacked him across his face. "What the fuck?"

"Stop risking you damn health for those two. They are patient men they could have waited a couple more days." She said sternly. He grabbed his cheek and stared at her. She had a look that he could only describe as fear.

"I really scared you didn't I?" all she could do was nod. He grabbed her arms at looked her dead in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I've never been more scared in my life then I was when you were missing. Arthur it felt like I lost everything. Like I didn't have anything left in the world to care about… I know that's dramatic but it's the truth." She said looking down. "It's not your fault, what happened. I know that, I blamed Cobb…It was awful the things I said to him. But honestly I still blame him a little, all he cares about is himself and his kids and I know his kids are important, but I just can't help thinking that if it hadn't been for Eames and Yusuf he wouldn't have been able to get everything done in time let alone try to. Ever since that building exploded I haven't been able to look at him the same. I feel awful about it."

"When you went into limbo during the Fischer job I blamed Cobb. Once the job was over I went to see him, I try my hardest to refrain from getting into fights but I had it. I said things to him…that were well not exactly right. I apologized and everything but to this day I still blame him and hate him for taking you down there. Cobb is addicted. You did notice that he said he would call if any more jobs came up? He said this one was his last. He can't stop and he won't. Mal is the reason he goes back again and again. He will never stop till the day he dies. It's just the way he is. But let me tell you one thing. Cobb would never let me or anyone else for that matter die because of a job. Mal was the last straw for him, he made a promise that no one else would die and he has kept it to this day. And he always will." Arthur explained with and let out a sigh at the end resting his forehead against hers.

"But we thought you died?" she questioned

"Who do you think taught me how to escape like that?"

**PLEASE REVIEW IM BEGGING AGAIN! Anyways next chapter should be up soon. I don't really know where I'm going with this now, I know what I want to do but I'm trying out different things to see how to work it all out anyways thanks to everyone who reviewed it means a lot!**


	6. Chapter 6

Ariadne woke up on a lawn chair. She looked around and saw the PASIV machine with 00:00 blinking over and over. She saw Cobb on the couch with his head in his hands. Then she saw Eames leaning against the wall with his hand squeezing his forehead. But no Arthur. It was all a dream. She had dreamt everything. Now it made sense to her she had never even tipped her totem so how was she supposed to know that it wasn't reality. She didn't really remember hooking herself up.

"It was all a dream…" She whispered as she let her tears fall.

"I'm sorry love. I'm so sorry." Eames said. He had tears streaming down his face but he wasn't sobbing like Ariadne. She sat in shock for what seemed like hours. "You dreamt he came back didn't you?"

"I was there for days. It was so much detail, all his injuries and everything, the tattoos were perfect. You guys were there too. He told you everything. He came back to me…" She finished in a whisper. Eames slumped to the ground and began to sob. Ariadne scooted off the lawn chair and hugged him as they both sobbed. Cobb followed as they sat on the floor hugging each other as they sobbed. They were a broken family missing one of its key members. They stayed as they were long after they stopped crying. Ariadne finally spoke up after a while once she noticed Yusuf was gone.

"Where's Yusuf?"

"Went back to Mombasa."

"I dreamt that to."

"I'm sorry."

Cobb's phone rang and he removed himself from the group to answer it. Ariadne and Eames stayed in the same position waiting for him to return. When he did he had a slight smirk on his face.

"They didn't find a body." He said. They both perked up at this. "It was Yusuf. He saw it on the news at the airport. No one was in the building."

"So he could still be alive?" Eames said standing up and pulling Ariadne up with him. "We need to find him. He couldn't have gotten far from what he sounded like on the phone."

Cobb nodded and they grabbed there things and ran for the car. They drove for what seemed like hours. Searching empty ally ways side streets near the building he was held in.

"I know where he is." Ariadne said suddenly. Both men looked at in shock she stared back with the same expression. "It's a park. It should be about three blocks from the building where he was held. I can't believe I didn't think of it till now. Go drive!"

"How do you know?" Eames said as Cobb drove.

"We go there all the time its this old run down park that kids used to play on before they built new one a couple blocks away. We go because it's secluded away from the busyness of Paris." She explained. Cobb sped up a little bit as they hit the suburban part of Paris. She saw the park coming up. "There it is!"

Once Cobb pulled up she jumped out before he even had it in park. She ran up with Eames following close behind. She stopped at the edge and looked around till she spotted a body sitting at a picnic table. She ran hoping it was Arthur she couldn't tell due to it being about 2am. As she got closer her saw it. The red die, the blood, and the gun. She stopped short as she saw it, it was Arthur, and he kept rolling his die over and over staring at the gun. He was questioning reality. She only moved again when Eames bundled into her.

"Arthur." She said. He turned and looked at her. She saw it he threw the die down and the gun and stood up. He smiled. She threw herself in his arms and held on like her life depended on it. I'm sorry if this hurts but I don't care, I thought you were dead, then I went under and dreamt that you came back, and then I thought you were dead again when I woke up and-"

He smashed his lips against hers and ended her sloppy speech as well as her worry.

"I love you too Ari."

**SHORT YES I KNOW! Sorry I will probably update tomorrow so don't worry!**

**PLEASE REVIEW IM BEGGING PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!**


	7. Chapter 7

Arthur passed out in the car on the way back to the warehouse. She was surprised he had even made it to the car; he looked so worn out and just awful. Ariadne still couldn't shake the sadness that over took her when she saw him questioning reality. She watched as they pulled up to the warehouse and Eames carried Arthur inside. Cobb and Yusuf brought out all the medical supplies they could find as Ariadne stripped him of his shirt. Luckily his wounds weren't as awful as the ones she had made up in her dream. He had bruises on his ribs; they were a yellowish green color that made Eames have to compose himself. When they turned him over Eames ended up leaving the room. Ariadne slowly ran her fingers over the open lash marks on his back. These wounds were exactly like the ones she had made up in her dream, the gash on his head wasn't as bad as the one in her dream, and there was a small bruise around it but nothing more. They cleaned his cuts and bandaged him up.

"Eames?" Ariadne said letting the man know he could rejoin them.

"Yes darling?"

"Can you take us home? I don't want him resting here on a plastic lawn chair." She explained with pleading eyes. He nodded and threw one of Arthur's arms around his shoulder and dragged him out to the car. Ariadne turned to Cobb. "What are we going to do? This guy can not get away with this."

"You are going to take care Arthur while Eames and I search for him. Maybe when Arthur wakes up he can help us out on what the men looked like. But for now Eames and I will deal with it. You need time and so does Arthur." Cobb explained as he followed her to the door.

"Thank you. I will call when he wakes up." She replied with a small hug and walked down to the car.

When they arrived back at they're apartment Eames set Arthur on the bed and left the room quickly, Ariadne followed after him to catch him before he left.

"Eames…Are you okay?" He shook his head in response.

"As much as I make fun, I hate seeing him like this. Vulnerable and weak. He maybe a stick in the mud but it's not always a bad thing. He is the only one of us who knows how to control his emotions and he is always the strong one. He is not supposed to be lying in that bed beaten to a pulp. It's not right." He gushed Ariadne walked over and hugged him.

"That's why were going to find the people who did this and give them what they deserve. Look Cobb is waiting for you. I will call you as soon as he wakes up I promise." She said into his shoulder.

"Okay." With that the forger left and Ariadne went back to the bedroom. Arthur was still out. She walked over and moved his body into a more comfortable position and removed his shoes and belt and pulled the covers over him. She climbed in on the other side and watched him sleep. He was alive and that was all that mattered to her. Soon enough she found herself drifting off into a deep sleep with her hand clasped around his. She didn't dream, she couldn't anymore but she could still feel. Sleeping for her just meant she could feel her emotions running wild in her head. When she woke the next morning Arthur was still asleep but she noticed that he must have woken during the night because he was now in sweats and a wife beater. She looked him over and realized it must have taken all his effort to change, but she didn't blame him, if she was in that much pain she would not want to be wearing a suit to bed. She watched him for a while and when she finally realized he wasn't getting up any time soon she too fell back asleep.

Cobb watched as Eames paced the room with a manila folder in his hands. They had been searching all night for the people that did this to Arthur but all they really had was the employer's name, Riley Anderson. They had no picture or anything, it all rested on Arthur waking up with a memory of there faces.

"Maybe we can call Yusuf and see if he can dig anything up in Mombasa I mean it is the place where most extractors hide out this time of year, Maybe someone has worked for him before." Eames said without looking up from the folder.

"Tried it. I called while you were dropping them off, Yusuf had already asked around. No one knows this guy." Cobb explained as Eames nodded absent mindedly. They stayed silent for a while longer both reading through their notes and the ones Arthur had taken. After a while Eames looked up with a smile on his face. He dropped the manila folder on his desk and chuckled.

"The money." He said. Cobb looked at him funny and he just chuckled again. "He wired the money to our bank accounts remember? We can track it. Find out where it was wired from and follow it back to Anderson."

"Wow Arthur is rubbing off on you."

"Now I wouldn't go that far darling."

**I know short again but not many people are reviewing and well it sucks. Anyways school it starting Tuesday so updates may take a little longer then usual. Thanks to ****SormustenHerra**** for all the help! Means a lot!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


End file.
